Week 23: My Pregnancy Journey.

This week has felt like a weird turning point in my pregnancy. As much as I still love it all, I’m getting to that point where pregnancy becomes a little more difficult. I finally feel like my stomach is much bigger, I’m much more uncomfortable, and it’s starting to be more more of a struggle to do basic things that used to be easy for me. With all of that said, I am loving every single minute of it.

And it makes sense that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable when you consider that the baby is the size of…

A large PAPAYA!

Measuring between 11-12 inches long, and weighing over 1 full pound now, my sources tell me he is working hard to develop millions and millions of brain cells this week. Pretty cool! I hope he is a smarty pants like his daddy.

How I’m Changing

Holy stomach, I feel HUGE! And not in an “I feel fat” type of way, but more like “my stomach now feels like a giant extra appendage.” Casey and Sarah both agree that I look massively pregnant now.

It’s funny how the stomach can suddenly become a bit of an obstacle. I can’t eat on our couch comfortably anymore because I can’t physically lean over to the coffee table to reach my plate. I have to prop my dinner up on a pillow and lean back in order to be able to eat and breathe at the same time.

We are finally having delightfully sunny summer-ish weather here in Seattle, and so yesterday I wanted to make sure to shave my legs so I could rock some shorts and sundresses. (TMI?) I literally had to stand up every ten seconds while shaving because I was unable to breathe while attempting to bend over and reach the bottoms of my legs. It was quite exhausting!

Other than out of breath a lot of the time, I still feel really good. I’m not quite as gung-ho “I can do anything” as I was a few weeks ago, and these days I’m happy to let someone else carry the grocery bags or take a large box downstairs.

I also feel a lot of the “pregnancy brain” creeping in. At least once a day I find that I’m either repeating myself, with no memory of what I said the first time, or asking someone a question that they had literally just answered. Pregnancy appears to have disabled my short term memory. At least I haven’t done anything like this again recently!

What I’m Buying

Last weekend I dragged Sarah on a massive baby-related shopping spree. Poor girl. We started out in Babies R Us so that I could test out some of the registry items I had picked out online. It was important to me to see and feel things in person, and make sure I had picked things that would work well for our needs. Three hours of pushing strollers around the store and testing out every single gliding rocking chair, I left with only a $19 rug, but also a much better feeling about our registry and baby needs.

As if the Babies R Us trip wasn’t exhausting enough, we then headed to the mall where I was determined to find a nice dress for Casey’s fancy office dinner that evening. For some reason I find the majority of maternity clothes to be over-patterned, sized HUGE, and generally unflattering. After several unsuccessful trips to maternity stores, I decided to give regular clothes another shot – specifically looking for dresses.

I quickly discovered that the maxi dress I had loved so much before pregnancy, was also a perfect substitute for overpriced maternity wear. I picked up this regular I.N.C. dress at Macy’s, excited that it will fit me through the rest of my pregnancy, as well as afterwards when the bump is (hopefully) no longer there!

I also picked up a few more decorative nursery items this week, and I’m hoping that once one more thing arrives, I can show you guys a sneak peek of how it’s all coming together. It’s still pretty bare bones right now, but the general concept and look are there. The only big thing we still need is a nursery glider, and for some reason I am being very particular and indecisive in choosing one. I have a feeling I’ll be spending a LOT of time in it, and I want to be sure I make the right choice!

Thoughts this Week

Total pounds gained to date: Nine and climbing

# of visits to the ice cream truck: A disappointing ZERO

Vacations I’m looking forward to: Two in July!

Bathing suits purchased for vacations: Zero – I’m afraid

Popsicles consumed: Infinite

Rocking chairs tested in BRU: At least 25

Pineapples sitting on my counter: Two, large

Next doctors appointment: Tomorrow

Degrees F in Seattle today: A glorious 76, our highest yet!

Next week we are getting ready for an exciting 4th of July BABYMOON, which I will tell you all about shortly. I am counting down the days!

You look adorable. And tiny! In a, “I am a fit pregnant Mama” way! You make me miss pregnancy. But I am certain that the fact I only have two hands means I PERSONALLY only need two children. The expecting stage is just so dang fun.

I absolutely love it when pregnant ladies start to really show. When I see them out in public, I just want to give them a hug and shout, “Congratulations!” But I restrain myself because I don’t need any further proof that I’m certifiably crazy. :) You are glowing, Emily!

“I have to prop my dinner up on a pillow and lean back in order to be able to eat and breathe at the same time.” — Can totally relate to this! I am due Friday — have been using this pillow trick for quite a while! You look great — love all your posts!

Emily, Just wanted to chime in to say I agree with Stacy H above. I registered for a glider, and then one of my good friends who had just had her 2nd baby said the best advice she could give me was to skip the glider and get a LaZBoy recliner. Oh my gosh, best decision ever. You will be in that chair so often, and it was so nice those first few month b/c after a feeding, I would just recline back and we would nap together. It’s so comfortable, and once we’re done with babies, it can go in another room of the house. I’m pretty sure my husband already has big plans for it. They are pricey, but it was worth every penny in my opinion, and it comes with a 5-year guarantee, and I was told they would replace my fabric for any little spill. Love love LOVE my LaZBoy…and also, it is so soft and cushiony. I could not IMAGINE sitting in a hard rocker/glider chair those first few weeks post delivery. I had to use my Boppy pillow as a donut for any kind of hard seat. For the first couple of weeks, my husband didn’t even realize it was for breastfeeding. He thought it was specifically made for new moms to sit on – hehe.

You look amazing! I never bought a single article of maternity clothing. I was mostly big pregnant in the summer and maxi dresses were definitely my friend! I used the belly band a lot though and I know you don’t like that so much.

False positive tests can be caused by anything that disturbs the cervix or uterus.
Cigarettes aren’t the best way to practioce taking pictures of smoke.
The utferus is fast rising and as such there is a tad bit shift in the center of gravity.

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